Burned-out workers sick of toxic bosses are using medical leave as a sneaky extended vacation to job hunt—and it’s not actually illegal |
Burned-out workers sick of toxic bosses are using medical leave as a sneaky extended vacation to job hunt—and it’s not actually illegal
If you’re burned out, stuck in a toxic job, and too financially stretched to just quit, TikTok has a suggestion: Take medical leave. Instead of quiet quitting or burning through PTO, a growing corner of the internet is advising workers to take up to 12 weeks off—fully protected and, depending on your benefits, even paid.“If you have a full-time job with benefits and you are really struggling with your mental health, take FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act),” one TikToker, @lexi.inks, told her followers in a viral video. The former kindergarten teacher took FMLA during a period of severe mental health crisis, enrolling in a 10-week intensive therapy program that she says “literally saved my life.”
Under FMLA, eligible full-time employees in the U.S. can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition—and crucially, that includes burnout and mental health. In the U.K., workers can use Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for up to 28 weeks.
And some workers say they’re even getting paid while they decompress and job hunt. Lexi, for example, claimed short-term disability allowance while she was off—and by the time she........